tartness.

1. A distinctly sharp, sour taste.

2. A brisk, cutting quality in someone's speech or response.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• tartness of fruit
• pleasant tartness

On the page

The fruit's tartness sharpened the otherwise sweet dessert.

Usage notes

Primary category: sensory / description. Forms: Usually uncountable; no ordinary plural in this sense. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: description. Commonness: moderately common.